UPDATE: United Technologies Corporation confirmed in an announcment this morning that the company will indeed pursue a spinoff or sale of Sikorsky Aircraft.

From statement by CEO and President of UTC, Gregory Hayes released earlier this morninh :

“Our strategic review has confirmed that exiting the helicopter business is the best path forward for United Technologies…Sikorsky is the world’s premier helicopter company and through a series of strategic wins is well positioned for long-term growth.  However, separation of Sikorsky from the portfolio will allow both United Technologies and Sikorsky to better focus on their core businesses.”

The announcement, though expected, is still likely to roil some of the 720 Chester County workers Sikorsky laid off this month in Coatesville.

Many more are wondering if the layoffs were more shrewd business dealing than a response to the oil market. UTC maintains that steep drop in oil price crippled demand for Sikorsky’s helicopters.

Below, we’ve updated our previous article on the layoffs to reflect updated coverage.

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Of the 720 workers, 560 are contractors whose contracts will not be renewed and 160 full-time employees whose jobs will be phased out over the coming 12 months, according to a Philly.com report.

“Sustained decreases in oil prices continue to drive significant declines in capital investments by oil companies in offshore oil exploration projects, impacting Sikorsky and resulting in reduced production levels,” Sikorsky spokesman Paul Jackson said in the article.

Coatesville is Sikorsky’s operations center for commercial helicopters, of which 80 percent are ordered by oil- and gas-related companies, the article said. The layoffs will drop the local facility’s staffing level below 1,000 full-time positions.

Helicopter manufacturer cutting 720 jobs in Chester County: http://t.co/TPaK1c0jcx pic.twitter.com/GxQblofNZD

— PHL Business Journal (@PHLBizJournal) June 3, 2015

And the untimely news at the county’s 20th-largest employer is leaving Coatesville unsettled at a time when it is trying desperately to restart the rotors of a stalled economic engine. At $35,115, the city of 13,000 already lags more than $50,000 behind the county’s median household income.

“Certainly there would be an impact there, not just to Coatesville but to the entire community,” Chester County Economic Development Council COO Mike Grigalonis said in an update on Philly.com Sunday.

While a plethora of questions hover about who will have to go, the contingent of contractors is already taking action, with some quitting to secure jobs elsewhere, Philly.com reported. Many believe their specialized expertise remains in high demand, but that doesn’t mean some want to go.

“I love it. It’s a passion,” eight-year contractor Brian Newhouse said in the article. “I’ve been here long enough to love the area, to make new friends and get to know people I consider family, and I would hate to leave.”

Jackson noted that parent company United Technologies’ plans to spin off its Sikorsky division had nothing to do with the layoffs, and the $2.5 million infrastructure expansion project at the Chester County Airport will continue on schedule.

“They said to me their commitment to Coatesville and to the region is real, and they hope to retool and add more workers once the orders start to come in again,” said state Sen. Andy Dinniman.

Other local businesses are reeling from the pullback in oil and gas too. Steel producer ArcelorMittal, which employs nearly as many as Sikorsky in Coatesville, has seen its stock drop around 30 percent in the latest six months because of the halt on oil and gas exploration, and defense spending has already been dwindling in recent years, according to a VISTA Today analysis earlier this month. Cheap oil, while a boon for consumers, has some unexpected consequences particularly when it comes to important, meaningful jobs for Chester County’s blue-collar labor force.

“We realize how vulnerable any industry is in our current economy,” Dinniman added in the Daily Local News’ coverage of the layoffs, “and it is all the more important to create a variety of diversified companies in Chester County so that if one sector encounters problems, workers can find new opportunities in another industry.”

Read more about the layoffs on Philly.com here and here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Sikorsky’s spinoff here and expansion project here.